The Price of Beauty
by whydowehavetodothis
Summary: Shy, Beautiful Arianna Rossi is starting her seventh year of Hogwarts with no friends, and a supposedly perfect life. But what happens when she makes friends with the Marauders and her roommates? SB/OC Rating may change
1. Meet Ari

Arianna Rossi was currently sleeping. Though that wouldn't be the case in a minute. It was 4:59 a.m. in the morning and her alarm was about to go off and start her day again.

BEEP with a groan, she shut her eyes tighter, and then forced them open. _Time to get through the day _she thought. She then swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stood up, her feet smarting from touching the icy floor below her.

"Stupid parents, stupid _marble _floors, freezing my feet" the seventeen year old girl grumbled to herself. "Why can't we be normal, and have, I don't know, hardwood. Or even, carpet?"

She knew the answer to that. Her parents were possibly the most pretentious, uppity perfectionists in the world. That included the house, themselves, and most definitely their daughter.

Arianna padded her way over to the overly elaborate bathroom that she had since her birth, and was completely unnecessary. Once she got there she stood and glared at her reflection.

Now, Arianna wasn't the type to grumble in front of her parents. Or anyone else for that matter. She was cripplingly shy, a fact that no one knew, her dorm mates in Hogwarts just thought she was stuck up. She had heard overheard them talking about her when she was in the bathroom, doing her ridiculous make up routine, making perfection in herself. They thought that she should be in Slytherin that she would fit right in.

_Slytherins would eat me alive_ she thought bitterly, as she assessed the damage done to her hair during the night. She sighed and started brushing.

Arianna was a beautiful girl. She had been told that since she was two. People praised her shiny ebony curls, dark eyes, and tiny nose. Her full lips and high cheekbones.

But when Ari looked in the mirror all she saw was wild, bushy boring black hair. It wasn't exotic like Lily's, one of her roommates, long mane of pure red hair. Or Alice's short golden ringlets. Talia's extremely long head of tawny hair. Mary's wavy caramel locks. Her hair was disgusting to her.

And her eyes, well, they weren't very pretty. They just didn't fit. And they were dark. Nothing special about dark eyes. Everyone has them it seemed.

Her nose was too tiny, her cheeks made her look like a chipmunk, and her lips looked like she spent days injecting collagen in them.

When Ari looked in the mirror, she saw someone who wasn't perfect. And that wasn't acceptable.

Her parents had long since drilled into her that perfection was the only thing that was accepted in this house. And so she was perfect.

She spoke 3 languages other than her natural Italian, and got perfect scores on every assignment she handed in at Hogwarts. She got 10 OWLs, and this year her parents were expecting perfect NEWT scores as well. And the number one thing that ruled Ari's life, is never leave your bathroom looking anything but perfect.

As long as she could remember her day started at 5 in the morning. She would wake up, move to her bathroom and start with brushing her hair.

Once that was done, she jumped into the shower. Cold, of course, better for the skin, or so her mother says. She would wash and condition her hair twice, never once, and if she felt like it, she could always do it once more.

Once out of the shower, dried, and wrapped in a silk robe ("Nothing COMMON is going to touch my daughters skin!" her mother had said, when they were buying two dozen of them.), she would then head over to the sink, and begin the skin care regimen her mother had started her on when she hit puberty.

First, wash with cold water. Then the at home facial. Followed by cleanser, then moisturizer. All organic, nothing that could possibly clog her pores and cause pimples. Her mother would fall over dead if her precious daughter got a PIMPLE! How common.

She would then proceed to dry her hair, and style it accordingly to the day. Since today it was September 1st, and she would be on a train all day, she put it in a simple side braid, with some tendrils loose to frame her face.

The came the make up. Her eyes were perfectly outlined and shaded, her cheeks properly blushed, and her lips glossy. Her skin looked even more flawless, with foundation applied.

_It's a good thing Maman taught me how to apply make up to work with my face, or I would look like a clown. _Ari did not have a good opinon of herself, if you hadn't caught that yet.

It might have been because when she would come downstairs make up less, her mother would tear in her relentlessly, until she went upstairs and applied. Or maybe because she was on a strict diet that controlled her life.

Truthfully her mother made her insecure. The woman was flawless. And compared to her she never felt good enough.

After make up, she would go and put on the outfit her mother had laid out for her, while she was in the shower, and dress.

Today it was a beautiful midnight blue silk wraparound dress., with matching blue flats. Usually her mother forced her into heels, as she was only 5'3, a midget, but her mother never made her wear them on the train. "To much potential to fall and get a scar." Was her reasoning.

After she was dressed, she turned to the mirror, she looked in the full length mirror that hung in her closet.

Her trained eyes picked out every flaw, as she knew her mother would do as soon as she emerged in the dining room.

Three pieces of hair had strayed from her braid, which Ari quickly fixed. Her one beauty mark, her Nonna had told her it was called when she was younger, and Nonna was still alive, was still a tiny bit visible on her right cheekbone. And the dress wasn't lying flat on her stomach, making her look fat.

Ari noticed that and glared. She would have to restart her diet. She hated the starving and the purging, but if it was necessary for the perfection her parents adored, she would do it.

With one last sigh she turned on her heel, and gracefully walked out of her room. It was exactly 7:00.

* * *

Adelle and Anthony Rossi sat at their dining table waiting for their daughter. With Anthony at the head of the table, and Adelle seated at his right, they looked every bit the polished perfect couple they were.

Anthony was distinguished looking, slightly older and pushing 50. His black curly hair was beginning to show signs of grey at the temples, making him look well for his age. His grey eyes, cold and calculating, looked at the room, making sure it was presentable for a lunch meeting he was holding in it at noon, after they dropped Arianna off at Platform 9 ¾. He was dressed impeccably in a three piece gray suit, with a crips white button down underneath.

Adelle, on the other hand was much younger, and much younger looking then she actually was. Over a decade younger than her husband, thirty eight to his forty nine, she was often thought to be in her late twenties, early thirties instead of two years from 40.

She had Grecian good looks, long golden hair straight as a pin, blue eyes, a strong, straight nose, and full lips. High cheekbones presided over her face, and instead of her daughters full rosy cheeks and full face, she had sharp angles, and smooth, small cheeks. She was in a gorgeous scarlet red suit, obviously chosen due to represent her daughters house, Gryffindor.

Anthony and Adelle's marriage wasn't loveless. No, it had came to be because of their shared love of perfection. A chance meeting at the minister's ball, when Adelle was nineteen and Anthony thirty, lead to a marriage, and a daughter a year later. The daughter, of course coming after a year of marriage.

Adelle was French, and went to Beauxbatons. Anthony was Italian, and went to the Italia School for Wizardry, an all boy's school. When it came to sending their daughter to learn the craft, they decided to move to England, from Spain, where they had been residing, and send her to Hogwarts. It was supposed to be the best school academically, after all.

Arianna slowly moved in to the room, gliding instead of walking, like her mother had taught her.

"Stand up straight, _ma cherie,_ you are curving backwards again, and that is even more unattractive then slouching!" Adelle scolded her daughter, her French accent as thick as the day she left France.

"Sorry, Maman." Ari said, instantly straightening, as she waited for Dreny, her house elf to pull out her chair on her father's left, across from her mother.

"You look very presentable today, pet. Are you ready for your seventh year?" Her father asked.

"Yes, Papa. All my clothes are being packed by the house elves now, and my homework is completed." Ari answered, declining orange juice Dreny offered her, and taking water instead, her mother smiling at the choice.

"You have got to make sure you do not eat to much at this feast, non? You will get fat, and then no one will marry you." Her mother reminded her, as she did every year. Adelle's greatest dream was to marry off her daughter to someone even richer than her husband, and have grandchildren she can meld into perfect little angels.

"Yes Maman." Arianna said softly, beginning to eat her solitary little egg. She used to just have egg whites for breakfast, until her mother had been told that egg yolks were better for skin and hair.

Her parents went off into a discussion about a party they were going to next week, and who was going to be there.

Ari, however was lost in day dreams of how she wished her year would go. Maybe actually making friends, instead of just being by herself. That would be nice. Actually having someone to talk to.

_Perhaps I will sit with my dorm mates on the train,_ Ari wondered, _and actually have a conversation. Then maybe they will stop hating me._

"Arianna, are you listening to me?" Her mother's voice broke through her thoughts. "I told you, go gather your things so we can travel to King's Cross!"

Ari smiled, excused herself, and went upstairs to get everything she needed.

She didn't know it yet, but this was going to be the year that changed her life.

* * *

**So I oddly enough got the idea of this story while listening to Selena Gomez's new song, Who's Says. If you haven't heard it, I suggest you listen to it.**

**Anyhoo, I will try to update as well as I can, not very good at it, and I have trouble keeping up with things. **

**I am also looking for a beta, so if you want to, just pm me? or you can tell me in a review. I like reviews ;-)**

**Ciao, Flame**

**PS. I don't own Harry Potter. If i did, Sirius Black and Fred Weasley would be chilling with Harry :)  
**


	2. Meet the Roommates

Ari loved Platform 9 ¾. She loved the hustle and the bustle, the collection of people talking, and the noise. She liked how the steam would spiral out of the top of the red train that had carried millions of student to Hogwarts. She loved the cosiness of the train, and the waving people you could see outside the window. What she did not like was trying to find a compartment.

After her twelfth try at finding a relatively empty compartment, she came across one that only had four people in it. But it was the people inside that worried her.

Lily Evans was a fiery, red headed Welsh, with a temper bigger than James Potter's ego. This is good, since it was constantly taking down his ego. She had emerald colored, almond shaped eyes, and fine features. She was also leggy and thin, standing at a good 5'9. She was head girl, and one of the smartest girls in school.

She had 3 best friends, Alice Duncan, Talia O'Callaghan, and Mary McDonald.

Alice was a petite, though not as short as Ari, blonde with pretty dark green eyes. She was a half-blood and proud of it, and was in love with Frank Longbottom, though they hadn't started dating yet.

Talia O'Callaghan was… well the only way to describe her was Irish. She had the Irish temper, and the drinking prowess of a 40 year old bar rat. She had the typical Irish blue eyes, and ridiculously long tawny brown hair. She could sit on it when she let it down, which she never did. It stayed in place in a braid that wouldn't dare try to get loose, because it would get in the way of her Quidditch playing. She was a chaser on the team, and probably could go pro if she felt like it.

Mary McDonald was a quiet bookworm. She had soft golden eyes, and short wavy caramel locks, with a bang that was always held back from her face with a barrette to match her outfit.

These girls were Ari's roommates. And she was pretty sure they hated her. Ari never really spoke to anyone, and when she did it was one word answers. She couldn't force anything out of her mouth after that, she couldn't help it. She was really that shy. But her roommates took that as she thought she was too good for them, and proceeded to hate her.

She knocked on the compartment, and their heads swung towards her.

"Could I sit?" Ari asked in a quiet voice, "Everyone else is full."

She stood there in fear, while they looked at each other in the way that best friends could.

"Sure, Arianna." Alice said at last. _I always knew she was the nicest._ Ari thought as she went to sit in the empty seat next to the window and Lily.

"Well, I will be back soon, ladies. Have to go yell at Prefects. And Potter." Lily said, after another long look at her friends, and an uncomfortable silence.

"Bye Lily, have fun. We'll remember to get you Licorice Wands when the trolley lady comes around!" Talia yelled at her retreating back.

"Did you really have to yell at her back? You're making a scene. Again." Mary scolded Talia, looking at her over her book, her reading glasses partially hiding her eyes.

"Do you have to wear your glasses halfway down your nose? You look like a librarian. Again." She shot back. Mary sniffed and went back to reading.

"C'mon, this is our last train ride! Can't we get through it without one spat between you two?" Alice begged. "You do this every year and it annoys me!"

"Well, Alice, now it's a tradition. If we didn't do it, then you'd be bored." Talia said, popping a bubble, and flipping through a Quidditch magazine.

Ari smiled at their banter, as she looked out the window. They had started on their journey while she was searching for a compartment, and the English countryside was flashing by. It wasn't raining for once, and it looked quite nice outside.

"You guys! Stop reading and talk to me!" Alice whined "What did you two do this summer!"

"Quidditch, Quidditch, ate, slept, more Quidditch, got drunk and beat up my brothers." Talia reported, finally glancing up from her magazine and putting down, "What I do every summer."

"You're boring. Mary what about you?" Alice questioned.

"Read, Read, ate, slept, Read some more, visited you, and avoided my sister." Mary said copying Talia with a smirk, "What I do every summer. What about you Miss Alice, how did you spend you're summer, snogging Frank?"

Alice turned as red as a tomato. "No. Sadly. We all know he doesn't know I'm alive. Besides, I'm not pretty enough to catch the attention of Frank Longbottom."

"That's not true."

The three girls looked at the source of the noise. Ari was looking at them with a blush on her face, partly for listening to their conversation, and mostly because whenever someone looked at her she lit up like a Christmas tree.

"What?" Talia said.

"You're really pretty, Alice. I love you're curls. And Frank watches you whenever you're not looking."

The three Gryffindors shared a mystified look. They had never heard their room mate say more than three words strung together, and never a compliment. Plus they never imagined her voice like that. It was soft and accented. They had expected something high pitched and obnoxious.

"How do you know?" Talia asked bluntly, obviously going to be the spokesperson in this conversation.

Ari blushed some more. "I… I have a lot of time to watch people. And we were potions partners last year, and you sat in front of us, Alice, and he spent of the time watching you."

"Well, thank you Arianna." Alice said slowly.

"You're welcome," They lapsed back into silence, Alice pulling out Witch Weekly, Talia returning to her Quidditch magazine, Mary looking down at her book again. With a sigh, Ari pulled her current book out of her bag and continued reading it.

"I'm back!" Lily sang as she walked into the compartment twenty minutes later, all of them still reading. "Didja miss me?"

"Nope." Her friends replied in unison.

"Hmph." Lily pouted, but then looked around. "…. Arianna, what language is that in?" she asked suddenly.

"Hm?" Ari looked up with a start, she wasn't expecting one of them to actually talk to her on their own free will. "Oh, it's Italian."

"Do you speak it, or just read it?" Lily asked.

"It's actually my first language. I was born in Italy, moved to Spain, and then came to England for my schooling, Lily. Do you speak Welsh?" At least that's what she said in her head. What actually came out was "Speak it. First language."

"Oh." Lily said.

Alice looked up then, "So were you born in Italy then, because you have an accent."

"Yes. Then we lived in Spain." _Success!_ Ari thought, _A normal sentence._

"How'd you end up in Hogwarts then?" Talia questioned. _Man, this kind of feels like the Spanish Inquistion! Maybe I should've volunteered this information 6 years ago. But I was even more shy then…wait, they asked me a question and I haven't answered yet!_

"My parents thought Hogwarts was the best academically. My mother was Beauxbatons, and my father went to an all boys school in Italy." Ari answered, finally volunteering information about herself without blushing too bad, or coming off rude.

"Really?" Lily asked, amazed that her closed off roommate was actually talking to them. 6 years and the beautiful girl had spoken to her maybe twice. She had thought that maybe she was a blood purist, but she had no problem talking to her now. Maybe it was a language barrier?

"Is that why you don't talk to us? Because English is hard?" Alice asked nicely, smiling.

"No, I have no problem with English. You just seemed like you were having fun without me, and I was very much shy when I was young. It's better now. Back then, I could barely talk two words to anyone other than my parents and house elf." Ari said, smiling, maybe they can be friends now!

"Oh…" The three of them said together, slightly embarrassed that they had not bothered to talk to their roommate after the first few times.

"Well, what did you do this summer, Lily?" Alice said, changing the conversation around, causing Mary and Talia to groan.

"You already know what she did, Alice you spent the summer with her! Besides we do the same things every summer. The only interesting thing that could've happened is if she started dating Potter." Talia yelled at her.

"Which is about as likely as a porcupine growing blubber." Mary said which caused all the girls, including Ari to look at her strangely. She shrugged and returned to reading.

"Well…. What did you do this summer Arianna?" Alice turned to her suddenly, causing her eyes to go wide with the sudden inclusion in the conversation.

_Man, they keep talking to me, and I keep not expecting it. Get it together, Rossi, be a normal social person!_

"I mostly stayed with family, visiting. They live in France, Italy, and Spain, so we did a lot of traveling." Ari explained. "And you can call me Ari, the only person who calls me Arianna is my mother, and my _grandmere._"

"That's really cool!" Alice said. The girls then got into a conversation about the places they had gone to, and Ari actually contributed.

The train ride was perfect. Up until they walked in.

* * *

**Two chapters in a day, I obviously have no school ;-) **

**I'll start writing the next chapter either tonight or tomorrow, and I'll probably have it up this week, unless school gets in the way. Then you have to wait!**

**Ciao, Flame**

**PS. I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I would force them to have the next part of Deathly Hallows out by now!  
**


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